The Spaces in Between
by GazingUpAtTheMoon
Summary: A collection of missing scenes and should-have-happened moments in the 100 Season 3. Primarily Bellarke with appearances from other characters.
1. I Don't Understand (3x03)

**Authors Note:** **What? I've been absent for how long you say? I'm publishing a new story and not updating one of my other longer fics? What's this word responsibility you speak of?**

 **But I- *Runs away and prays for forgiveness as I fade off into the distance***

 **I think this story is basically going to be a collection of missing scenes I think should be in the 100 Season 3. Primarily all Bellarke.**

 **This takes place at the end of 3x03**

* * *

He doesn't know why she's running after him, calling out his name like she is actually going to say something that matters.

She already made her choice.

"Bellamy please"

Then her hand is on his shoulder, soft but firm, tugging him around so that he can face her.

The others are up ahead not even paying attention, too focused on getting the hell back home and once again having to protect their people from a murderous bunch of psychopaths.

Bellamy stops and turns, _because he's always been too helpless with her not to_ , but stays silent and keeps his eyes trained on the ground.

"Please, you have to understand." Clarke whispers, her voice low and desperate.

Then he does look up, but immediately wishes he hadn't. His stomach churns at the dark paint under her eyes. The way her long blonde hair, usually free and only held back with a simple clip or lone braid, is now so intricately done and complicatedly braided and just so _different_ he can't even appreciate that maybe in another situation she wouldn't have looked breathtakingly beautiful. But now all he can see is a Grounder. All he can see is someone who is most definitely _not_ Clarke.

"I don't" He replies simply even though it is something of a lie. A part of him does get it. Apparently, they are now the 13th clan, so they would need am ambassador here in Polis. He gets that, he does, no matter how he might feel about _his_ people becoming _their_ people.

( _It's so much information to process. So much has happened in so little time. He doesn't even know what feeling to focus on. It's just so much)_

But what he doesn't get or at least _refuses_ to get is why it has to be Clarke. No-not even that. He doesn't get why _she-above anyone else-is so intent on it being her_.

But Clarke is having none of his stubbornness. She never could. "Bellamy, I have the best relationship with Lexa, with this sort of position. I have to stay. For our people"

He is shaking his head and backing away from Clarke before he even realizes he is doing it.

Her face looks stricken at the action.

As far they both could remember, Bellamy has never walked away from Clarke.

"After everything that has happened, a part of you still trusts her. _Still wants to trust her_. That's why you're staying here, that's why you _bowed down to her_."

He didn't see it but he heard. And he thanks every god above that he hadn't seen it. He doesn't know what he would have done.

Clarke looks ready to cry and Bellamy frowns at being the reason. But he's hurt damnit. So goddamn hurt and it's all because of _her_.

"We can't win a war against the Ice Nation, we need the Grounders," She argues quietly, weakly, her usual passion and determination not present in the conversation.

It only spurs Bellamy on.

He steps forward and get's in her face, narrowing his eyes and dropping his voice down low. Clarke look's terrified to hear what he has to say but she doesn't move an inch.

"You _abandoned_ us." Bellamy snarls, so much venom and accusation in the one word. "Left us and didn't look back. And all we-all _I_ could do was look for you every damn day since then. And now that I've found you, _you're still running_." His hands have found their way to her arms, gripping them so tightly in the flimsy dress that he might leave bruises.

Clarke seems to relish in the pain with her broken face and teary eyes.

"You're hiding behind Lexa," Bellamy continues. "Using her as an excuse to stay away. You think you're helping _our_ people? _You're helping yourself_." And then because he wants to hurt her, to cause the pain she has caused him by not leaving this place _(by not choosing him_ ), he says so quietly that had Clarke have not been so close she wouldn't have heard, "You're a coward. And maybe you shouldn't come back."

Bellamy feels sick the moment the words leave his mouth.

He wants to take them back. Apologize and say he gets it. That Mount Weather haunts him too, that he can never wash the blood he has put on his hands, that yes-she is the best choice to be ambassador for their people.

But then he remembers the way Lexa had so possessively looked at Clarke back in the throne room. The phantom pain in his ankle where he had been stabbed risking his life to save Clarke. That Gina is dead out there somewhere yet here he is miles away being upset and angry over someone else. And that Clarke, despite it all, still doesn't want to be back home with him and their people.

So Bellamy doesn't do anything to make it better. He releases his hold on Clarke, gives her one more look full of pain and regret, and leaves.

She doesn't chase after him this time.

When Bellamy round the corner Octavia is there waiting for him. Maybe she heard, maybe she didn't, but the sad yet understanding look on her face hints to the former. But she doesn't say anything and he is thankful because there is absolutely nothing that could make this better.

 _(So much. So much has happened)_

So Octavia just grabs his hand and he holds onto her for dear life and they leave Polis, and Clarke, behind.


	2. A Tense Glance (3x03)

**Authors Note: A short drabble based off the glance Bellamy gives Lexa in 3x03. (Forewarning, this is not pro Lexa)**

* * *

Before Bellamy looks at Clarke one last time and walks away, before his eyes narrow and his lips tilt into a frown so full of anger and hurt, before he turns his back on the girl he never thought the would, Bellamy shares a look with Lexa.

It's quick, nothing more than a prolonged glance, but it's so heavy and tense that if he wasn't so infuriated ( _and hurt_ ) by Clarke, his blood would be boiling with rage and his hands would be itching to grab his gun and aim it at the Commander's head.

Bellamy hasn't had much interaction with Lexa. There was Finn's funeral(?), the dinner where they had been almost accused of poisoning the drinks, Raven's brief but painful torturing, and that basically it. All other knowledge he has of her has been from the words of others. And they haven't been favorable.

Standing so close yet so far from the young woman now, he can see why.

He hates Lexa more than he has ever hated her than in this moment. More than when she forced Clarke's hand into killing Finn. More than when she had allowed her men to use a blade on Raven's defenseless body. More than when she had given the order for his sister to be killed. And impossibly more than when she had taken her army and turned her back on his people when they needed them most.

Lexa is standing tall and poised as usual, not the barest hint of an emotion on her face. But Bellamy can see-he doesn't know how but he can-the hidden anger and smug pride gleaming in her eyes. Because Clarke has chosen to stay with her and not leave with him.

And Lexa is beyond happy over the fact while Bellamy is drowning in angered grief.

Bellamy doesn't really know why but Lexa doesn't like him. As she stares him down, watching as Clarke all but rejects him, he can feel the metaphorical daggers she is aiming his way. She is happy, somehow, that she is the one Clarke will now be residing with. Not him and not the Sky people, but especially not him.

So much has happened in the past few moments that Bellamy hasn't processed a lot. But in this one glance, Bellamy notices the eerily similar dresses Lexa and Clarke are wearing. Undoubtedly this was Lexa's doing, he's not even sure Clarke's likes dresses (not that there has been time to wear them). But this-who else could have planned this?

It can't be just a symbolism of their people's joined unity. Wouldn't all the clan leaders be dressed similar than? No, this is Lexa making a claim. _A claim on Clarke_.

Bellamy wants to hit something.

So in that one glance, Bellamy hopes his point gets across. _I hate you. You betrayed my people. We will never be the same people. She's not a thing and she can't be won. If you hurt her I will kill you._

But then it's over and his focus is back on Clarke and he doesn't spare another thought on that woman.


	3. Drowning in Sorrow (3x04)

**3x04: Bellamy is drowning in death and sorrow, and finds only once escape from i** **t. But Bellamy forgets, poison blackens the heart and destroys the mind. As you feed it, it feeds on you.**

* * *

It's like he's drowning.

Bellamy can't breathe. Not when he shoves a minimal amount of food down his throat. Not when he walks across camp and endures hundreds of sympathetic (unwanted) looks. Not when Octavia tries to talk to him, or Kane, or Abby, or Lincoln. He dresses robotically, washes robotically, even drinks himself into a stupor like a man high on drugs.

It's because he can't breathe.

He can't breathe.

He can't breathe.

Tears are constantly on the brim of his eyes. Needles forever stabbed into his heart. His blood either runs hot with a depthless anger or cold with a incurable sorrow. It's all too much and he doesn't know what to do to make it end.

Bellamy can't even bother to try and make it end. It's a punishment, this madness in his mind and body. A punishment he well deserves to serve day in and day out with no end in sight.

Gina is dead. Her body isn't even a body. There is no one to bury, no gravestone to visit, no spot of soil where he can fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness. She's dead and he hadn't been there to save her. He had been gone, far away, and focused on saving another girl.

That girl isn't even here. His mission had been a fake and nothing- _nothing_ -productive had come from it. His actions were worthless, his intentions for shit, and a girl is dead the other one is content to live and be close to the people _who killed her_.

Bellamy can't breathe.

How many people must be taken from him? How many of their people must die because of _Grounders?_ When he isn't thinking of Gina, when he isn't thinking of _her_ , he thinks about all the lives lost to the murderous inhabitants of the ground.

Jasper, almost killed because of them. Atom, dead and partially because of his actions. Finn, hurt and broken from this world and it's harsh environment, lead to kill because of it then paying for the sin with his life in the most awful way possible. Other innocent, confused, and hurt children of the 100 picked off day after day just because they had landed in _those people's_ area of the world. It had been his job to protect, to lead them, yet so many were lost in the battle. Then Lexa had sent all those warriors to the dropship and _so many more_ joined the buried.

Bellamy can't breathe. Gina is dead. _She_ is still gone. So many are dead. Bellamy can't breathe.

Then Mount Weather happened. No, not technically the Grounder's fault for that. But their sin was committed when their Commander made that Godforsaken deal and turned their backs on him and his people. Then the blood of those deaths became stains on their hands. The Grounders were safe _but not his people_. And now survivors from Farm Station, who had felt safe and happy and finally reunited with their people, gone.

Bellamy doesn't want to listen to reason. He knows what he knows and this is the truth. Since the day they came to Earth, the Grounders have been a curse and plague upon those from the Ark. There had been to many bodies to bury because of them. Too many names to remember and and whisper in prayer.

Gina is dead. _She_ doesn't care. So many people are dead.

Bellamy can't breathe.

 _Collateral damage in someone else's war._ He sneers at the thought. His people have always been, and always will be, the enemy of the Grounders. No matter what truces have been made, they will be broken. No matter how many walls and fences will be built, they will be breached. The Grounders can not accept them and the feeling is mutual.

There is no peace to be found. It can not be found with already so much death and hatred between them. The damage has been done and it is irrevocable.

Pike whispers such truths into his ears and for a moment, Bellamy's mind stops spinning.

The same anger burns in Pike's eyes. He sees what the other cannot. He knows and refuses to forget-to forgive- the wrongs that have been done to their people. The dead plague his mind just as much as they plague Bellamy's. He revels in the guilt and anger Bellamy drowns in.

Pike helps Bellamy do the same.

Now, with a gun in his hand and the promise of revenge so close, Bellamy can breathe. It makes sense to do this. His blood boils and his heart pounds with the promise of hurting those who have hurt him. He can't think of anything else but that. Gina is forgotten. _She_ is forgotten. All those people _forgotten_.

This is the now. Death is the now. And he will reign fire on those who have done the same to him.

This hatred and narrow focus brings him out of the foggy depth of his mind. Bellamy is breathing, yes, but what gives him air is like a poison. If he stops breathing it in, even for a second, the sorrow will be back and he will once again drown. So Pike doesn't allow that to happen. Bellamy doesn't allow that to happen. They focus on their hatred, they focus on the promise of death and retribution. There is no room for rationality, for a second thought or option.

Keep moving or you drown.

But Bellamy forgets, poison blackens the heart and destroys the mind. As you feed it, it feeds on you. Or maybe he doesn't forget, and wants exactly that to happen.

Maybe he doesn't want to breathe or drown anymore. Maybe he just doesn't want to be.

The gun is cold in his hand but it will be warm, very, very soon.


	4. The Promise of a Smile (3x04)

**Authors Note: Clarke muses on going home and seeing Bellamy again after Lexa leaves her chambers. (3x04)**

* * *

She feels…okay.

For the first time in a long time, Clarke doesn't feel the need to run. Okay, maybe a part of her _still_ wants to but the beast that dwells in her mind that usually demands the act has been much more quiet than it has in months. As she sits down on the duvet in her room, her hand absently stroking through random knots in her hair and warm candle light illuminating her skin, Clarke ponders why.

Maybe it's because her people finally have a solidified promise of peace. Relations had been shaky since Mount Weather and understandably so. Clarke still remembers the event with a bitter taste on her tongue and an incurable pang of guilt in her heart. But now, her people are the 13th clan and the threat of Ice Queen gone. The Grounders and the Sky People no longer have any need for hostility between them. At least, not technically. Of course it will take time to heal the deep wounds between the two people, lots of time and effort to build trust. But it will happen. If not in her lifetime, than in someone else's but what she and others helped do today will be the foundation for that inevitable peace.

Or maybe it's Lexa. For so long, Clarke could only feel hatred towards the young woman who had left her in the dark of the night with nothing but a whispered "May we meet again". It was a betrayal Clarke could not forget and certainly not forgive. But now here at Polis, despite it all, Lexa has somehow wormed her way into her good favor. But how could she have not with all she has done for Clarke and her people? She made them the 13th clan, saved Clarke from the clutches of the Ice Queen, taken the kill order off Lincoln, bowed down to Clarke, begging for forgiveness and promising her loyalty. And now she sent 300 warriors to protect Arcadia, a great show of strength and good will.

But even with that in mind, Clarke still feels there is something else.

Yes, things are better with Lexa but they could never be what they _almost_ where. Even with forgiveness, even with all these acts of kindness and recompense, Lexa is the Commander of the Grounders and Clarke a part of Skycrew. Their people-now despite being the same people-would always be the divide between them.

 _She will always put her people first. You should come home to yours._

A small gasp escapes Clarke's lips at the remembrance of the words. And now she knows. Why the need to run has lessened, and a small peace has calmed her mind. It's Bellamy and her people. It's the promise of going back to them and trying to fix the damage she left by leaving them. She had been so afraid for so long, _so guilty,_ that even when Bellamy had asked her to come back that awful day she could barely tell him why she couldn't.

 _I'm sorry_.

Clarke cringes at the memory. Such a pitiful and weak excuse. No wonder he had looked at her so angrily and left with a grimace on his face. She had been afraid then, had stayed because she still couldn't muster up the courage to return home. But now was different. That past few days and all that was accomplished has given her some sense of security-a sense of _promise._ That things could be better, that she could be better.

And more than anything, she wanted to show Bellamy she was sorry.

Of all the wrongs she had committed, her sins against him has always been the most painful to face. His hand had laid on top of hers when they killed all those people in Mount Weather. It was he who begged her to stay, _to come home_ , and share the weight of what they had done together. But she had walked away, not even giving it a second thought, and left him with nothing but a kiss on the cheek. Clarke recalls so vividly the elation that filled her heart when Bellamy had found her in the cave with Roan. She didn't realize how much she missed him till he was there, right in front of her, his hand stroking her cheek and a smile lighting up his face.

He had looked so beautiful in that moment.

But just as he rose her up with so much joy, he just as quickly brought her down so low with their last encounter. There had been so much anger and disappointment on his face, Clarke still feels tears heating up her eyes.

She wants to go home and make it better. All of it. To see Raven again, and Monty, to make amends with Jasper and Octavia, even her mother. And Bellamy. To make everything- _everything_ -absolutely right between them after she has so royally screwed it up.

To just see him smile like that at her one more time.

She can come home with the defeat of the Ice Nation under her belt, with their honored peace treaty with the Grounder nation. It's still not enough, Clarke reasons, to amend what she has done in the past. Nothing she can do will ever erase that. But it's _something_ and Clarke holds onto that for dear life.

Bellamy will understand, Clarke hopes desperately. He always understands her more than anyone else ever has. _He has to_.

Clarke goes to bed that night with such dreams to hold onto. _And his smile_. She goes to bed remembering _that smile_.

* * *

Somewhere else in the dark of the night, Bellamy thinks of Clarke just as she thinks of him. But his mind is full of anger, not promise, with resentment, not hope. And he has no desire to see the light of the next day. Not with the gun in his hands and the blood staining his skin.

Things will most certainly not be okay.


	5. This Is Wrong (3x08)

**Authors Note:** Bellamy musings at the end of 3x08

* * *

Bellamy's lungs are burning, the fire that is usually oh so choking now unbelievably scorching. He can't breathe without flames licking up his throat. Can't blink without tears of fire pouring down his eyes. His heart pounds so loud he can't hear. But he heard now, oh did he hear now.

Kane is going to die.

And all Bellamy can think and feel is _**no**_.

The fire that usually consumes him now is itching to burst from beneath his skin and attack those around him. To burn Monty's mother to ashes. To kill Pike's lackies till they are nothing but bones. And Pike. Oh, how he wants to make Pike suffer the most.

Bellamy never realized how much he truly hated the man till this very minute. Because before now, they had been on the same side. They protected their people, no matter what the cost. It was Aracadia against the rest of the world, absolutely the _rest_ of the world. And maybe Bellamy died a little each day trying to fulfill that vow, maybe pieces of his soul kept breaking off with every Grounder life he took, but he thought it was worth it. Because at the end of the day, if his people were safe, then he was fine burning in hell for the sins he committed to make it so.

But now Pike was changing the rules.

 _He's a dictator_ Kane had said.

Bellamy hadn't wanted to believe him. Or at the very least, wanted to believe that if Pike was a dictator, he made sure it was others who suffered from his reign, not their people.

But now it was all wrong.

Kane wanted their people safe too. Kane was not a traitor. Kane was their people. Kane did not deserve to die.

The truth of it is painted all over Bellamy's face. He can't hide it, can't even be bothered to. Pike sees it and tries to tell him otherwise. That this is what needs to be done.

But all Bellamy can think is _**no, no, no, no.**_

When Bellamy wipes the tears from his face, he nods. He nods again as he gets his trembling in check and his breathing under control. Nods once more as he walks out of the room and away from the man he pledged his allegiance to.

And all he can think is _**no, no, no, no.**_

Octavia was gone, angry, under suspicion, but very much alive. Lincoln, betrayed, angry, in lock up, but very much alive. And Clarke. He can't really think about Clarke without a onslaught of conflicting and confusing emotions. But, under it all and no matter what laid between them, she was very much alive.

Maybe the threat of a loss of life was finally what Bellamy needed to see how wrong this all was.

Since day one on the ground, Bellamy had always fought with those around him. Wells, Murphy, Atom, Octavia, Raven, Finn, and of course Clarke. So much conflict and even till this day, things still weren't easy. But they were all each other had. They were Skycrew, Arcadia, _each others people_.

And you did not kill your own people.

Pike's true self had been hidden under his tough bravado and Grounder hatred. It needed to be if he was going to convince so many to follow him. To convince Bellamy to follow him. All under the guise of protecting their people. And yet, Kane had just been led away with a sentence of death on his head.

Pike wanted absolute power without any complications, even if they came from his own people.

Pike was wrong, which meant Bellamy had been wrong too. It kills him inside, knowing all the horrors that had been committed to get him to this point of realization. And he doesn't want to be forgiven. This is not what this is about.

Oh, how he wishes to see Octavia smile at him again. To have a comfortable comrade with Lincoln. To again be partners with Clarke, working together and not apart. He wants it all so much that it hurts.

But this isn't what this is about. He doesn't want nor deserve their forgiveness. May they hate him forever for what he's done because he knows he will always hate himself. All eh wants now is to save Kane, dethrone Pike, and do what he always wanted from the beginning.

 _Protect their people._

As long as that happens, it doesn't really matter what happens to him.


	6. What Are You To Each Other? (3x15)

**Authors Note:** Set in 3x15 where Roan is being held captive by the Delinquents. He needs some clarifications on what Clarke and Bellamy exactly mean to each other.

* * *

"So, I thought you and Lexa were a…thing."

Clarke looks at Roan with a pointed eyebrow. Any topics involving Lexa are still dangerous territory with her, and if it's Roan bringing it up then she most certainly does not want it to go any further.

So she doesn't answer him, just looks to the ground and waits for Bellamy to come back. He had volunteered to stay with the Ice King as they filled their friends in on in the plan, but she honestly hadn't trusted either of them alone together in a room for a second.

"Not meaning to pour salt into the wound," Roan continues, not put off by her silence. "But I'm just…confused, is all."

"About what?" Clarke asks despite herself.

"Your relationship with _him_."

It's plainly obvious who he is referring to. "We're partners." She says simply. "We have each other's back."

Why is she even bothering to explain herself? And what does this have to do with Lexa?

"I've been partners with many over the years , we've never looked at each other like you two do."

"We've been through a lot together Roan. You wouldn't understand."

He shrugs. "Say what you want Wanheda. But I'm pretty sure you didn't even act with Lexa the way you do with him."

"Shut up," Clarke snaps and jumps to her feet. "You don't know anything about me and Lexa."

Again, he just shrugs. If his hands weren't tied up, she's sure he would raise them up in placation. "I'm not meaning to offend here. But I like to observe things, to know things, its habit you pick up when you're on your own for so long. And I can't quite figure you two out."

"And why should I care?"

"You begged for his life Clarke," And when Roan says her name, her real name, she knows he is trying to be serious with her. "At the price of your own. And then he came Polis, with guns-breaking the sacred rule-just to save you. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you didn't part of the best of terms when that happened. And now here we are again, him coming to your rescue."

"Like I said, we have each other's back."

"It's more than that," Roan states. "Maybe you don't even realize it yet."

The conversation promptly ends when Clarke walks out on him, leaving him alone in the room to his stupid and intrusive thoughts.

Later, when she and Roan are walking to Polis with Clarke in her makeshift bonds, she can practically feel his smug smirk.

"Don't," She growls around the cloth in her mouth.

"Overprotective isn't he?" Roan goads near gleefully. "Wasn't at all happy at the thought of leaving you alone with me."

She doesn't respect him with answer.

"Let's hope we get through this Wanheda, I'm very interested to see how you two _celebrate_ with each other."


	7. A Small Reprieve (3x16)

Set after the events of 3x16. Before leaving Polis, Clarke tries to find a moment of silence from the others and Bellamy follows.

* * *

Weakly, Clarke pushed open the doors to what had once been Lexa's chambers.

Ontaria must have been living in here since…since she had died, but Clarke didn't want to think about that. Honestly, Clarke didn't want to think about anything. She wanted, just for once, for her mind to be completely devoid of any thought and feeling. Silence. She wanted complete and utter silence. And to wash her face off, hence her being here to begin with.

She had been reluctant to enter the bedroom at all but she knew Lexa (and hopefully Ontaria) always kept a large basin of water stored in the back.

The last time she had been here, she and Lexa had been wrapped up in each other, concerned about nothing else but each other's smiles and kisses. Even now Clarke could see the two of them clearly on the bed, and her heart beat both elatedly and painfully at the memory.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus. Water. She was here for water. Not that she cared much about her hygiene at the moment (it was a luxury you learned to live without on the ground), but she couldn't bear to walk all the way to Arcadia with Ontari's black blood smeared down her face. All she wanted to do was scrub it away and she would be fine. Everyone else was preoccupied at the moment anyway, waking up from Ali's control and coming to terms with the acts they had committed. Her mother still trembled when she touched her and Kane could barely look Bellamy in the eye. Jaha had yet to move from the corner of the room where he had sat himself down, starring blankly at the wall.

Clarke quickly walked to where she knew the basin was kept and near wept in joy seeing it still there and thankfully full. The water was murky, at best, and of course the tepid temperature of the room but she could care less. She just needed the black off _now_.

"Wondering where you wandered off to."

Clarke looked over her shoulder to see Bellamy enter the room. He looked as tired as her, as bloody too, but at least the streaks on his face where a natural red and, well, his.

"Sorry," She mumbled and turned back toward the basin. "I just-I needed to wash this off my face. I'll be done in a second." But she then realized she had no clothe to do the job. Well, her hands would have to do.

"Hey," Bellamy's large hands grabbed her own before they plunged into the water. "Wait a second." He reached for the bottom of his jacket and, without a seconds thought, ripped off a generous piece of it. Clarke's protest died on her lips he did it so quickly, but she huffed as he dipped it into the water.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Oh, because it's my favorite jacket right? I think the dirt and blood already ruined it, this actually might be an improvement."

"Tears in your clothing? Really?"

"I hear the kids think it's cool."

"Why do you always make yourself sound like you're forty?"

"Cause I feel like it most the time."

"You and me both."

The both grew silent at that, the brief and light moment ending just as quick as it began. Clarke frowned, matching the one Bellamy now wore, and wondered if there would ever be a time where their conversation didn't veer off into the dark and depressing. "I-"

"It's fine," He interjected, apparently not wishing to talk about these things as much as her. He instead raised up the now wet rag. "Just hold still for a second."

"Bellamy you don't have to-"

"It's fine Clarke-"

"No, really-"

"Just shut up for a second and sit still, Princess. Geeze."

She acquiesced with an eye roll. Really, she only gave in because he had called her that- _Princess_. He hadn't called her that in so long. No one had really. She didn't realize how much she missed it until now. It was much better than the bitter Wanheda he had recently directed at her.

The moment the rag touched her cheek, Clarke's eyes slid shut and she leaned into Bellamy's touch. He was so gentle with her, a large contrast from the strength she knew he was capable of. This was the Bellamy people rarely ever saw. This was the boy who raised his sister, who liked mythology, cared about his people with every fiber in his being, who really had a heart of gold but had to constantly hide it due to the horrid world they lived in.

The rag slid seamlessly against her skin, washing away the muck that was there. Whenever the skin of Bellamy's palm brushed against her she couldn't help but sigh, enjoying the warmth of him and the comfort he was expelling.

"You deserve a break," Bellamy whispered, swiping the rag against her hairline.

Eyes still closed, Clarke replied, "So do you."

"You still owe me a drink."

"Well, there's no chance of me not coming back to Arcadia with you this time."

"Happy to hear."

She blinked one eye open to look at him. "I promise, I'm not going anywhere this time Bellamy."

His hand stopped his ministrations and Bellamy let his fingers reach past the rag, cupping her cheek with the wet clothe between them. She couldn't help but lean into that as well.

"I believe you." Idly, his thumb stroked her chin.

While they always seemed to fall into these intimate situations, this one felt like….like something _more_ than the others. Like something was right there, waiting to be realized and touched upon.

But it wasn't the time.

Not with the end of the world apparently right on their doorstep. Not with so many of their friends and family broken and traumatized. Not while she was in Lexa's bedroom and the wound from her death was still fresh and hurting.

"Here," Clarke reached up, squeezing his hand before taking the rag. "Your turn."

Bellamy looked like he was about to protest but she gave him a silencing look. He was quiet as she began to clean his face, wiping away the blood and being careful not open any of the cuts and scrapes there. Clarke began to feel a little nervous as he kept his eyes open and trained on her, and it was obvious he was thinking about something very seriously.

"What is it?" She asked when her nerves finally got to her.

Bellamy darted his eyes down to the ground. "Nothing."

"It's obviously nothing."

"No, really, it's stupid-"

"So it is something if it's stupid. Just tell me."

"I was just…" Bellamy licked his cracked lips. "Just looking at your hair. It's so long now and it made me think about the first time I saw you-it was in a braid. And then I thought you haven't done your hair like that since, well, that first week on the ground and-"

She couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously? You're thinking that hard about how I do my _hair_?"

Bellamy glared at her. "I told you it was stupid"

"No, I know, it's just," She giggled again, dropping her hands into her lap and bowing over a little. "I must look like _shit_ right now Bellamy."

Seeing she wasn't exactly laughing _at_ him, Bellamy allowed himself to grin. "You're a little better without the black blood."

"Still!"

He shrugged. "What? Looking like shit for us is looking normal. I barely notice anymore."

"Idiot," Clarke said good naturedly and rose to her feet. "Come on, we should get back to the others."

Bellamy got up and followed after her but stopped just shy of the doorway. Clarke looked at him curiously, and Bellamy shuffled on his feet for a second before asking, "This was her room, wasn't it? Lexa's?"

Clarke swallowed thickly, her eyes again darting towards the bed, and silently nodded her head.

"You know how I feel about her but I also know how _you_ feel about her. And I'm sorry Clarke. For her passing. I just wanted to say that."

It was not an easy thing to say and Clarke knew better than anyone how Bellamy felt about the fallen Commander. Her death probably didn't soften those feelings either but for him to say that, to bother to even care and notice, it meant a lot.

"Thank you," She whispered, giving him a small but grateful smile.

He nodded his head and continued on, grabbing her hand as they went out into the hallway.

That was a new thing between them. Ever since she had reached for him before she entered the City of Light and then he continued it when he helped her stand up from the throne. Clarke found she liked it rather much and apparently Bellamy did too for he didn't drop the embrace, even when they reentered the throne room.

No one even seemed to bat an eye at it.

A new thing and hopefully one that would stay.


End file.
